Ski release harness



April 9, 1969 v E-ALDE 'GROOD 3,441,286

I SKI RELEASE HARNESS Sheet Filed June 7, 1967 April 29, 1 969 E A. DEenobo I 5x; RELEASE-HARNESS I Sheet 3 of 3 Filed June 7. 1967 Y UnitedStates Patent 3,441,286 SKI RELEASE HARNESS Emmett A. de Grood, 3920 35AAve., Red Deer, Alberta, Canada Filed June 7, 1967, Ser. No. 644,388Claims priority, application Canada, Dec. 19, 1966, 978,374 Int. Cl.A63c 9/00 US. Cl. 28011.35 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anapparatus mounted on the upper surface of a ski and comprising a toeharness and a heel harness for releasably securing both the toe and heelportions of a boot to the ski. The harness for both the foe and heelportions of a ski boot is adjustable for boots of various sizes as wellas thickness of the boot soles and yet the harness is firmly fitted tothe toe and the heel of the boot when in operation or use but willrelease the boot when the skier falls in any direction.

Field of the invention The present invention pertains to means ordevices for securing or attaching a ski to a boot or shoe. The means ordevices are referred to as a harness which is mounted on the upper faceof a ski for engaging and clamping a boot or shoe to the ski. Theharness which engages the toe portion of the boot or shoe as well as theharness engaging the heel portion will release the boot or shoe when theskier falls so as to avoid injury to the ankles and legs of the skier.Under normal conditions of usage the boot or shoe will be firmly engagedby both the toe and nesses employ spring and piston types of releasingmechanism for both the toe and heel portions of the ski boots heelharness to insure the proper retention of the boot or shoe upon the ski.

Prior art The prior art is replete with many types of ski releasingharnesses for the purpose of releasing the skiers boots from the skis inthe event of a fall in the effort to avoid injury to the skier. Some ofthe prior ski releasing harnesses employ spring and piston types ofreleasing mechanism for both the toe and heel portions of the ski bootswhile other types of harness structures utilize ball and spring members.

Summary of the invention The present invention is directed to a safetyreleasing harness for a ski that has a separate toe harness and aseparate heel harness which are easily adjustable and so designed as tofirmly grip a ski boot. The ski releasing harness will readily releasethe boot of the skier when the skier falls in any direction.

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of a ski bootwith the safety release harness of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of certain of the releasing features ofthe toe releasing harness;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the ski boot toe piece;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the toe releasing harness;

FIGURE 5 is a rear view of the toe releasing harness as shown in FIGURE4;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the toe releasing harness as shown in FIGURE4;

FIGURE 7 is a front view of the toe releasing harness as shown in FIGURE4;

3,441,286 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 "ice Description of the preferredembodiments Referring to the drawings, particularly FIGURES 1, 2 and 3,a schematic view of the safety release harness for skiing is shownconsisting of a ski boot 1 having a sole 2, a metal plate 3 attached byscrews 4 or the like to the front edge of the boot sole 2, part of a ski5, base plates 7 and 8 fastened by screws or the like to the ski 5, atoe releasing harness generally referred to as A, and a heel releasingharness generally referred to as B. FIGURE 1 shows the releasing harnessin open position with the central aperture 9 of the metal plate 3contacting the toe releasing harness A and the heel 10 of the ski boot 1contacting the heel releasing harness B before being pressed down intothe closed position.

. The heel releasing harness B shown in FIGURES 8 to 11 inclusiveconsists of the base plate 8 which is fastened by screws through theholes 11 to the ski. Vertically mounted supports 12 and 13 are fixed tothe base plate 8. A cylindrical member 14 is mounted on the top of andbetween the supports 12 and 13, and a rotatable wheel 15 is mounted onan axle 62 between the supports .12 and 13. The rotatable wheel 15 isprovided with two cup shaped lips 16 and 17. A spring 18 and ball member19 is mounted between the upper parts of the supports 12 and 13 and theball 19 fits within the cup shaped lip 16 with a tension adjusting screw20 mounted in the cylindrically shaped member 14 for adjusting thepressure of the ball 19 on the rotatable wheel 15. A vertical bracket 21is fixed to the base plate 8, and a hollow cylindrical member 22 isfixed horizontally to the upper part of the bracket 21. A spring 23 anda ball member 24 is mounted in the hollow cylindrical member 22 and theball 24 fits within the cup shaped lip 17 with a tension adjusting screw25 mounted in the hollow member 22 for adjusting the pressure of theball 24 on the rotatable wheel 15. A solid metal member 26 is fixed tothe forward side of the rotatable wheel 15 and the forward end of themetal member 26 is internally screw threaded to receive an adjustingbolt 27. A heel holder is mounted on the outer end 28 of the metalmember 26 and comprises two adjustable plates 29 and 30, the forwardside of the plate 29 'being formed with serrations 31 which intermeshwith serrations 32 formed on the rear side of the plate 30. The heelplate holder part 29 is fixed, for example, by welding to the outer end28 of metal member 26, while the heel holding part 30 is provided with aslot 63 through which the adjusting bolt passes to lock the two parts 29and 30 in proper position according to the ski boot heel thickness. Theheel holder part 30 is U-shaped as shown in plan view in FIGURE 10 andin side view in FIGURE 8 to form a wraparound design to keep the skiboot from sliding sideways.

A step on plate 33 formed from a vertical stop part 34 and a horizontalheel part 35 is hinged at 36 to the lower side of the heel holder part29 and fits in a slot 37 of the base plate 8. A strap holder 38 ispivotally connected to the upper parts of the vertical supports 12 and13 for connection to a strap wrapped around a ski boot.

The toe releasing harness A shown in FIGURES 4 to 7 inclusive consistsof the base plate 7 which is fastened by screws 39 or the like to theski as shown in FIGURE 6. Two vertically mounted supports 40 and 41 arefixed to the rear end of the base plate 7, and their inner sides areformed with circular ball recesses 42 and 43 between which a rotatableball 44 is mounted. The upper ends 45 and 46 of the supports 40 and 41are bent towards one another and a vertical cylindrical member 47 isfastened, for example by welding, between the said upper ends 45 and 46.Two cup shaped lips 48 and 49 are formed at right angles to one anotheron the rotatable ball 44. A spring 50 and a ball 51, FIGURE 5, arefitted in the hollow cylindrical member 47 and the ball 51 fits in thecup shaped lip 48 and a tension adjusting screw 52 is mounted in thehollow member 47 for adjusting the pressure of the ball 51 against therotatable ball 44. A bracket 53 is mounted vertically on the base plate7 and a hollow cylindrical member 54 is fixed to the upper end of saidbracket 53 as shown in FIGURE 4. A spring 55 and a ball 56 are fitted inthe hollow member 54 and the ball 56 fits in the cup shaped lip 49 and atension adjusting screw 57 is mounted in the hollow member 54. A toepoint 58 is screwthreaded as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6. A screwthreadedopening 59 is tapped into the rear side of the rotatable ball 44 intowhich the toe point 58 is screwed. A lock nut 60 is provided foradjusting the toe point 58 so that it fits snug in the ski boot toepiece central aperture 9. As shown in FIGURE 2 the ball 44 has a siderotation of 180 degrees.

In the operation of the safety release harness the heel holder 30 ismanually raised or rotated which causes the wheel to rotate about itsaxis 62 thus forcing the balls 19 and 24 against their respectivesprings 18 and 23. The movement of the holder 30 and wheel 15 causes thestep on plate 33 to be elevated or raised so as to place the heelreleasing harness in an open or boot receiving position as shown inFIGURE 1. The toe of the ski boot is then mounted in the toe harness byplacing the aperture 9 of the metal plate 3 upon the toe point 58 afterwhich the heel of the boot is pressed downwardly upon the plate 33forcing same down upon the ski so as to bring the upper rim or lip 61 ofthe heel holder 30 against the top of the sole of the ski boot forfirmly securing the boot to the ski. When an upward pressure isinitially applied to the heel holder 30 of the heel release harness thewheel 15 will rotate and the cup shaped lips are pressed against theballs 19 and 24 pushing the balls against the spring tension members.Upon further rotation of the wheel 15 the balls 19 and 24 are freed fromthe cup shaped lips which releases the harness from the boot. If a skiersimply wishes to free himself from the harness, he can use the point ofa ski pole between the wheel 15 and the heel holder 30 of the heelrelease harness and with a prying upward stroke of the pole the harnessis released. After either the toe or heel release harness have releasedthe spring tension controlled balls just clear the wheel or large ballso they can move freely. When the toe release harness releases sidewaysonly one of the small balls which is in line with the toe point movesout of the cup shaped lip. On a 45 degree angle fall or a backward fallthe two balls move out of their respective cup shaped lips, which givesthe toe release harness separate adjustments.

The recesses in the vertical supports are slightly deeper than thediameter of the large ball which only touches on the outer edges of therecesses. The vertical supports are positioned on either side so as togive maximum flexibility to the large ball without being too loose so asto rattle.

I claim:

1. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski comprisiug a metal platehaving an aperture therein secured to the toe portion of the boot, amember mounted on said ski for rotative movement with respect thereto, aholder for the heel of said boot adjustably connected to said member,said holder having a plate pivotally connected thereto and engaged bysaid boot for rotating said member and moving said holder intoengagement with said boot, a second member mounted on said ski forrotative movement with respect thereto and spaced from said firstmember, an adjustable toe point mounted in said second member formovement towards or away from said second member, said toe pointarranged to project into the aperture in said metal plate for retainingthe boot upon said ski in conjunction with said holder.

2. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 1wherein said holder comprises two serrated parts arranged to fittogether in adjustable positions with one of said parts being aflixed tosaid first member and the other part having a slot therein for thereception of a bolt to secure said parts in said adjustable positions.

3. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 1wherein said first member is mounted on an axle carried by a pair ofvertical standards supported on said ski, a spring biased member carriedby said standards for engaging said first member, a bracket supported onsaid ski and a spring biased member carried by said bracket for engagingsaid first member at a point diametrically opposite said holder.

4. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 2wherein said part afiixed to said first member has said plate pivotallyconnected thereto.

5. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 3wherein said spring biased member carried by said standards includes acylindrical member afiixed to the upper part of said standards with aspring pressed ball positioned therein for engaging said first memberand said bracket has a cylindrical member aflixed thereto with a springpressed ball therein for engaging said first member and tensionadjusting screws mounted in each of said cylindrical members.

6. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 1wherein said second member is mounted on an axle carried by a pair ofvertical stands supported on said ski, a spring biased member carried bysaid standards for engaging said first member, a bracket supported onsaid ski, and a spring biased member carried by said bracket forengaging said first member at a point diametrically opposite said toepoint.

7. A harness for attaching a ski boot to a ski as defined in claim 6wherein said spring biased member carried by said standards includes acylindrical member afiixed to the upper part of said standards with aspring pressed ball positioned therein for engaging said first memberand said bracket has a cylindrical member alrixed thereto with a springpressed ball therein for engaging said first member and tensionadjusting screws mounted in each of said cylindrical members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,224,786 12/1965 Tosalli280l1.35 3,258,274 6/1966 Beecher 280-11.35 3,317,217 5/1967 Poiger28011.35 3,333,859 8/1967 Smolka et a1 28011.35 3,343,846 9/1967 Toki280-1135 BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner. L. D. MORRIS, JR., AssistantExaminer.

